The Auswine Forum

Hi all,

I know JO/JH cover Oz pretty well, but can anyone suggest a similar 'annual' for New Zealand?

Cheers,

Dave.

Bob Campbell is the man...

Michael Cooper produces a Wine Annual that probably sums up the industry. The latest one is due out later this year.

My opinions, so if you cant handle opinionated writing dont read the rest of this post. The NZ real deal writers:

Michael Cooper is da man who puts in the hours, no doubt but he rates everything well except your $5 plonk so a bit watered down in opinion I find but good on info. The book is a bit big now for anything but reference and seems to be a bit regurgitated release upon release. His classics book is very good but id critisise in the lastest book the vintages dont go quite far enough back to be of any use to the cellar owner looking to drink a long term cellared wine esp with reds

Bob Campbell is a fine palate, but dont see as much writing from him around anymore which is a shame, more articles than reviews. I used to buy his cuisine annual every year as a means of keeping up with the mushrooming list of new wineries and was essential fodder for the cellar door tourist. Now cuisine in their infinate wisdom dont seem to do it anymore??

Vic Williams Not quite as prominant as he used to be. His guide seems to be definate second fiddle to Michael Cooper, seems to be more into the wine and food type writing scene.

Keith Stewart. the kiora maori nz ranking system must be the biggest joke in NZ wine writing lately (my website aside). Seems to get himself on the slippery slope at times. Like who the hell knows what Atua means?? Some lovely coffee table books though which ive been known to snatch from the $5 table

Joelle Thomson. Not quite as hot as the Briscoes lady and havent really got into her writing. See alot of her books on the clearance tables for 50c-$5. Perhaps more international in coverage than most NZ writers

Peter Saunders. Honest as the day is long, good cutting stuff, seperates the great from the good and the good from the ordinary in a strong fashion. No bells and whistles

Geoff Kelly. A legend trucks on and on but his palate is for very aged wines which kind of distances himself from the majority of us mortal wine drinkers. Some writings on wines most dont write about because they never see the wines, thoughtful and nicely critical. Take his cellaring recomendations and divide by 3 or 4 though!!

Sue Courtney. No doubt the leading NZ internet wine writer. And behind her educated writing style is some pretty good judgements. She certainly has a knack of picking out some super wines in a timely fashion. Sometimes a bit verbose but very thorough is the result if you are after that type of thing. Personally i read her because I find her palate quite close to mine.

Wow Craig... I was just expecting a "Go to www.kiwiwinefanclub.co.nz from you".

Thanks for your comments.

Adair

naa he wasnt asking for jumbled wine satire and thought he meant reputable writing

Sorry, I meant Michael Cooper...Bob just does stickers for supermarkets??

Bob has never done buyers guide format, though no doubt he has a collection of notes big enough. He head judges shows, does wine courses and writes for magazines. Yes he is a 'slave' to the evil dark lord woolworths, but most writers have to sell their soul to someone

assume doctor evil pose

baaawha ha ha

baaawha ha ha

baaawha ha ha

Craig(NZ) wrote:My opinions, so if you cant handle opinionated writing dont read the rest of this post. The NZ real deal writers:

Michael Cooper is da man who puts in the hours, no doubt but he rates everything well except your $5 plonk so a bit watered down in opinion I find but good on info. The book is a bit big now for anything but reference and seems to be a bit regurgitated release upon release. His classics book is very good but id critisise in the lastest book the vintages dont go quite far enough back to be of any use to the cellar owner looking to drink a long term cellared wine esp with reds

Bob Campbell is a fine palate, but dont see as much writing from him around anymore which is a shame, more articles than reviews. I used to buy his cuisine annual every year as a means of keeping up with the mushrooming list of new wineries and was essential fodder for the cellar door tourist. Now cuisine in their infinate wisdom dont seem to do it anymore??

Vic Williams Not quite as prominant as he used to be. His guide seems to be definate second fiddle to Michael Cooper, seems to be more into the wine and food type writing scene.

Keith Stewart. the kiora maori nz ranking system must be the biggest joke in NZ wine writing lately (my website aside). Seems to get himself on the slippery slope at times. Like who the hell knows what Atua means?? Some lovely coffee table books though which ive been known to snatch from the $5 table

Joelle Thomson. Not quite as hot as the Briscoes lady and havent really got into her writing. See alot of her books on the clearance tables for 50c-$5. Perhaps more international in coverage than most NZ writers

Peter Saunders. Honest as the day is long, good cutting stuff, seperates the great from the good and the good from the ordinary in a strong fashion. No bells and whistles

Geoff Kelly. A legend trucks on and on but his palate is for very aged wines which kind of distances himself from the majority of us mortal wine drinkers. Some writings on wines most dont write about because they never see the wines, thoughtful and nicely critical. Take his cellaring recomendations and divide by 3 or 4 though!!

Sue Courtney. No doubt the leading NZ internet wine writer. And behind her educated writing style is some pretty good judgements. She certainly has a knack of picking out some super wines in a timely fashion. Sometimes a bit verbose but very thorough is the result if you are after that type of thing. Personally i read her because I find her palate quite close to mine.

Craig
Very much appreciate this. I reckon it's a fair overview, at least for the authors I've encountered.

Michael Cooper Agree this, including the lack of controversy. I also find his vintage ratings amusing (4 is average supposedly, though there's maybe only 10% of vintages get ratings of 4 or below). Not wishing to be provocative, but NZ is hardly the most consistent of vintages and it's difficult to argue vintages are above average 90% of the time! I do buy this book, though it really should be a once every 2-3 years purchase for me. I think he drinking windows are generally fairly conservative, which is fine, though this isn't too helpful if you have well aged bottles. Surprised you didn't mention the NZ wine atlas jobby, as that's a pretty heavyweight book.

Peter Saunders Did put in a reservation for last years edition through Dymocks, Wellington (I think) who never got in touch. It looked an interesting alternative and I'll hunt down a copy based on your comments (Does that make me a wine critic book points whore? )

Joelle Thompson The only book of hers I've seen is the one covering <$20 wines and I have an aversion to critics that get carried away on the cheap is best value principle (known as Gluckism over here!), so didn't even flick through the pages.

Bob Campbell For such a renowned figure, he does indeed seem almost reclusive!

Geoff Kelly This is the first time I've heard of him and your description sounds interesting. Are there books or a web presence to find out more about his writing?

Keith Stewart Again, never heard of him. Sounds like unintentional comedy at best.

Vic Williams I bought one of his (penguin) annual guides, but found his tasting notes to be a little repetitive and mechanical: along the lines of "Cherries and blackberries, that's what I found on the nose; Fresh acidity, that's what I found on the palate" OK, possibly not that bad, but his habit of saying "A, B, C that what I found" came across to me as repetitive and just poor writing (for a professional).

Sue Courtney Yes, Sue's writing is excellent and what's more easily available via the web. Likewise, your own site is very good and I rate it 102/109

Thanks for putting this list up

regards

Ian

Geoff Kelly used to write for the NBR years ago and others too i think. A Farjar of NZ wine wrting?? These days he has his own website and has a lot to do with regional wines and spirits in wellington

Thanks Craig and eveyone else for your suggestions, much appreciated.

We tasted a few pinots and 'off dry' rieslings from around Otago a while back, but I didn't keep notes and we didn't visit many wineries.. Generally I liked the pinots, but the rieslings were a bit too far off dry for my taste.

Cheers,

Dave.

Ian S wrote:Geoff Kelly This is the first time I've heard of him and your description sounds interesting. Are there books or a web presence to find out more about his writing?

Hi Ian,
You can find Geoff's writing at http://www.geoffkellywinereviews.co.nz. I've described his site on my site as "Serious, prosaic wine reviews of local and international wines by the NZ winewriter who pioneered scoring of NZ wines in the 1980's."

Geoff was the original wine writer for Cuisine, by the way. He also hosts wine tastings in conjunction with Regional Wines and Spirits in Wellington.

Thanks for your lovely comments about <I>moi</I>.

Cheers,
Sue

SueNZ wrote:

Ian S wrote:Geoff Kelly This is the first time I've heard of him and your description sounds interesting. Are there books or a web presence to find out more about his writing?

Hi Ian,
You can find Geoff's writing at http://www.geoffkellywinereviews.co.nz. I've described his site on my site as "Serious, prosaic wine reviews of local and international wines by the NZ winewriter who pioneered scoring of NZ wines in the 1980's."

Geoff was the original wine writer for Cuisine, by the way. He also hosts wine tastings in conjunction with Regional Wines and Spirits in Wellington.

Thanks for your lovely comments about <I>moi</I>.

Cheers,
Sue

Sue
Many thanks for the link - I shall have a look with interest.
regards
Ian

Ian S wrote:

Craig(NZ) wrote:My opinions, so if you cant handle opinionated writing dont read the rest of this post. The NZ real deal writers:

. . .
Bob Campbell is a fine palate, but dont see as much writing from him around anymore which is a shame, more articles than reviews. I used to buy his cuisine annual every year as a means of keeping up with the mushrooming list of new wineries and was essential fodder for the cellar door tourist. Now cuisine in their infinate wisdom dont seem to do it anymore??

. . .

Keith Stewart. the kiora maori nz ranking system must be the biggest joke in NZ wine writing lately (my website aside). Seems to get himself on the slippery slope at times. Like who the hell knows what Atua means?? Some lovely coffee table books though which ive been known to snatch from the $5 table

. . .

Bob Campbell For such a renowned figure, he does indeed seem almost reclusive!

Keith Stewart Again, never heard of him. Sounds like unintentional comedy at best.

Re Bob Campbell - not so reclusive if you know where to look. He is Wine Editor for ACP Media in NZ and pops up in all the ACP magazines, including the Air NZ inflight magazine. He writes comprehensive wine reviews in a magazine called Home and Entertaining, in which he judges wines with his 'dream team' (often all MW's) to award trophy, gold, silver and bronze medal ratings. Personally I don't think this is the right place - a serious wine buff looking for skilful reviews like these, is hardly going to pick up a magazine called 'Home and Entertaining'.
He also writes a user friendly column and has an 'Ask Bob' feature in Taste Magazine (http://www.taste.co.nz), which is aimed at more general readership. Plus he is the NZ Editor for Gourmet Traveller Wine.

Here's a link to Keith Stewart's rating system, which he published in a book, and gave an overview in Grill magazine, which he edits. The link is to the article in the latter.
http://www.grill.co.nz/default.aspx?page=editorial&docId=167624


Cheers,
Sue

Needlessly confusing system destines it to failure. Some obvious picks and some questionable ones eg:

Peninsula Estate Hauraki Waiheke

now everyone has right to opinion, but please has there been a good one made since the 94???

Think the vineyard site there is a bit exposed and stuggles in all but the hottest vintages, many vintages are thin overly acidic, under ripe and hard - just my opinion. I struggle to be bothered even tasting them these days